Bike seats

We recently purchased a back carrier for my bike off gumtree for $20, a bargain. I took Curly out a couple of times and immediately felt the disadvantages. She was too far away for my liking, whenever I attempted to look at her the bike would wobble. We also struggled with helmets, I’d bought a ‘Limar 124 Superlight’ infant helmet online but because her head was so small, when you tightened it there was a huge gap between the harness and the shell. The shell would hit the back of the carrier and push it forward over her eyes.

The ibert Child Bike Seat

Blame it on my dutch origins, but there was something appealing and more natural about having curly up in front with me on the bike. I went on a research binge and narrowed my options down to two front carriers, the BoBike mini ($155), and the ibert Child Bike Seat ($170). I ride a ‘Men’s Giant Rove 3’ (apparently ladies aren’t as tall as me so I have to buy a men’s bike!), Both of these looked to fit okay with my bike but the ibert seemed the easiest to install. We also purchased a better fitting helmet, a Lazer BOB (Baby on Board).

I instantly fell in love with this. I do think the BoBike would have been awesome as well – it comes a much trendier charcoal colour. The colour of the ibert is garish, and you only have two options at the moment, pink or green. But I’ve come to appreciate this, anything which makes us more visible on the road is a good thing!

Attempting some hills with Curly wearing her Lazer BOB helmet.

The Ibert fits easily on the handlebar stem via a T-bar that the seat then slides onto. It seems a little wobbly at first, but once baby is in the seat this disappears and it’s very secure. The wheel attachment on the bar is fun for baby to play with, and Curly loves reaching over to ding the bell on my handlebars. I have long legs, occasionally my knees will rub the seat and I possibly ride with them out the smallest amount, but it’s not noticeable to me and the fun of having Curly upfront with me outweighs any of that. It helps as well that the seat is rounded and smooth so my knees never ‘hit’ the seat.

We have a lot of hills around where I live, I’ve only had to push her up a couple of these, you can’t really stand up to ride. I also had some concern my steering might be affected by having her on the handlebar stem, this hasn’t been the case. In all it’s been a wonderful purchase and I love getting out and about with Curly on it. It’s so easy to ride and I love being able to talk to her and point at things. Occasionally she will turn her head and look up at me with a big grin, that says it all to me.